People

03/15/2017

Our predecessors at La Grange, the Sabatier family not only made wine, they also raised sheep. Even today old drystone walls and stone shelters for the shepherds bear witness of the sheep-breeding times at La Grange. There's even an old stable left.

We revisited this old tradition of sheep husbandry with our Tradition wines. Frisette, the first sheep born at La Grange in modern times takes pride of place on the labels. We already wrote about the laborious rearing of our own little herd.

François and his son Raphael lovingly take care of all their charges, and this spring, we again had newborn lambs to enliven life on the winery.

10/12/2016

Thank you Lars and Marcus for helping with the harvest at La Grange. What were your first impressions?

Marcus: This was the first time that we helped with the harvest, so we didn't know what to expect. In the morning, when the vineyards are still shady, work was easy. At noon, in the full sun, things looked differently all of a sudden. It's really hard work. Hats off to the people who have to do this all the time.

Lars: When I was introduced as the the boss's son-in-law conversations stopped for a couple of minutes. When it became clear that I don't speak french, everyone was happy to start talking again. At the end of the working day we shared what little french or german we all knew - very much to the amusement of everybody.

Marcus: Of course we didn't have any food with us because we didn't know lunch takes place in the vineyards. But they all shared their food with us. We really appreciated that.

Renate: Did you learn something new?Lars and Marcus: Until now we only drank wine and never really thought much about 'winemaking'. During our holiday we followed the process from grape to fermentation for the very first time. It's impressive how much physical work is necessary for the last stages. After observing that you look at a bootle of wine with different eyes.

Renate: Are you in for the next harvest?Both: Of course! Maybe even for a prolonged period of time, now that we know how things work.Renate: What are your favorite wines?Lars and Marcus: Castalides Réserve and Prat Bibal Tradition

06/08/2015

After his retirement Daniel from Gabian didn't want to stress his wife at home with his continuous presence; so he was looking urgently for a new pastime. With seven friends in the same home-situation he founded a retiree's-club devoted to restoring old machines and tools.He himself has collected and lovingly restored more than 30 old pumps to this day. An old harvester, an old calèche and tractors are being cared for by other club members.

(Daniel's shop and his old treasures)

Of course these old treasures should not be hidden away in old warehouses all the time, they want to be presented to the public every once in a while. The best opportunity for an extensive show was the inauguration of our new winery last week.

The entire retiree's-club came and all the old pumps, some of them older than a hundred years, were fired up and presented to an interested public.The absolute highlight of this collection is an old wood gasifier. It stinks and gives off clouds of smoke but it can still do it's duty. So whenever there's a gasoline shortage - Daniel can help!

Daniel has many funny and touching stories to tell. For example he told me about an old couple who gave him their old pump. It was rotting away somewhere but Daniel managed to polish and repair it. When he showed the old couple how well their old pump worked again, they burst into tears. Suddenly they remembered old times!

The best story is this, however: Like every self-respecting club the retired gentlemen went on an outing to enjoy nature (and probably some time off from their wives). Of course one of the old pumps had to along. Two police officers happened to come by just when the gentlemen started the old machine and the officers didn't like it one bit. They took the whole retirees-club to the police station. The older gentlemen were outraged that their fingerprints were taken on this occasion. The retirees-club thought this to be excessive and scandalous. It's a good thing they weren't taken to jail, because then who should have presented the old pumps at our inauguration?!